CH 169

Chapter 169 – 1992-2020

RenDong had just finished washing the pillowcase when Lian Qiao came back from outside with a bowl of steaming beef noodles.

“RenDong?” He put the noodle bowl on the table and poked his head into the bathroom in surprise, “What are you doing in there?”

Thinking that Lian Qiao might be embarrassed, RenDong shook off the water drops and said, “I’m brushing my teeth and washing my face.”

“Oh.” Lian Qiao responded, smiling, “Come out and have breakfast.”

“Why are you up so early?” RenDong glanced at his watch and it was only half past seven. As soon as he walked out of the bathroom, the smell of beef noodles hit his nostrils, which whet RenDong’s appetite and his stomach growled.

With a “snap”, Lian Qiao took apart the disposable chopsticks and handed them to him: “I was afraid that you would go to bed late and have no time to eat breakfast, so I got up early and bought you a bowl of noodles.” RenDong felt warm and smiled.

After breakfast, RenDong was about to go to class but saw a person running over in a hurry.

“It’s not good, it’s not good!” The man lowered his voice, looking around like a thief.

RenDong recognized this as one of his teammates and couldn’t help being surprised: “What?”

The man said: “Someone else died! Come quickly!”

RenDong was startled and couldn’t help turning his head away to look at Lian Qiao. He saw the same shock in Lian Qiao’s eyes.

RenDong and Lian Qiao followed the man to the room at the end of the corridor. The door was closed, the man knocked on the door three times, one short, four times and said “it’s me” to the door. The door opened a crack.

A pair of vigilant eyes appeared from the crack of the door, it was the long-haired aunt.

“It’s you guys.” Aunt Long-Hair was slightly relieved when she saw that it was RenDong and Lian Qiao. But she didn’t relax her vigilance but took a cautious look at the corridor, then opened the door and beckoned the three of them to come in, “Hurry up and don’t let anyone see you.”

This secretive look made RenDong feel very strange. It’s not the first time he’s seen a dead person, why did he feel so sneaky and surprised?

After entering the door, RenDong realized that everyone was gathered in this room. But for some reason, everyone crowded together and stood near the door. It seems that there is something terrible inside the room, which made people afraid to approach.

“What’s going on?” RenDong asked.

Everyone covered their noses and turned their heads one after another to make way for them: “See for yourself!”

RenDong and Lian Qiao walked into the crowd for a look. They were immediately shocked speechless by the scene in front of him.

They saw a man and a woman lying side by side on the bed. Both of them were neatly dressed, with their hands folded on their chests, like sleeping Egyptian pharaohs. However, what was frightening was that the necks of both of them were dripping with blood. Upon closer inspection, the neck bones and muscles had been hollowed out, leaving only a thin layer of skin connecting the body and head.

The sheets and mattresses were soaked in blood, which had dried up and turned dark red. Two dark red blood flowers bloomed under the two of them and the walls and ceiling were also sprayed with blood. The whole room seemed to be fished out of a sea of blood, which was extremely terrifying.

Judging by the amount of bleeding, the necks of these two people should have been hollowed out while they were still alive, otherwise the blood would not have splashed all over the ceiling.

It’s been a long time since he had seen such an exciting scene and RenDong was a little uncomfortable. He held his nose, feeling like he would vomit if he stayed any longer. For some reason, he remembered the scene when he saw the bloody scene for the first time in the Matryoshka instance and couldn’t help turning his face away. He glanced at Lian Qiao worriedly.

Unexpectedly, Lian Qiao was very calm. Not only did he not hiccup as he used to when he was frightened back then, he even stared straight at the two dead people without blinking his eyes.

He has really grown up a lot.

RenDong secretly sighed in her heart: And me? After going through so many dungeons, have I grown into a real boss?

Just when RenDong was feeling emotional, Lian Qiao had quickly confirmed the situation on the scene, turned to Aunt Long-Hair and said, “When did you find out?”

Aunt Long-Hair: “Just now. They didn’t come down during breakfast, so I came to knock on the door , found the door open, and…”

Lian Qiao glanced at the crowd. They nodded quickly and said in agreement: “Yes, yes, yes.” “It’s just as she said.”

Lian Qiao squinted at the long-haired aunt and said mockingly: “Oh, it’s you again. “

The long-haired aunt bit her lip and didn’t answer.

RenDong was taken aback. He clearly felt that Lian Qiao was hostile to Auntie Long-Hair. Why? Is it because Auntie Long-Hair disagrees with him? Obviously, the relationship was still very harmonious during the orphanage…

Lian Qiao is not such a small-minded person and he will not target anyone just because of a disagreement. Unless…

RenDong frowned and his eyes fell on the two corpses again.

He remembered that the two were a young couple. However, unlike Jiang Li and the others back then, these two are really a pair of little wallflowers. It seemed that they had only entered the elevator world for the second time. They were completely lucky and found the orphanage by mistake on the wintery night of 1992. Since then, they have been hiding behind everyone’s back  and they have been trembling until now.

They seem almost transparent because they have hardly ever expressed their opinions on their own initiative these days. Having said that, this dungeon was very strict from the very beginning and pure rookies couldn’t survive until the next day. They are the youngest in the team, so it’s understandable to hang out with the big guys.

It is precisely because of their lack of experience and timidity that these two people live with extra care. In contrast, RenDong felt that the man with the scar and the Peking opera monk had a much higher chance of dying compared to them.

However, the reality is that the quick-witted Little Apple was dead, and the cautious little transparent people are also dead.

The death methods of these three people are almost exactly the same, all of them have their necks hollowed out, leaving only a layer of skin. Regardless of whether the murderer is a human or a ghost, there must be something in common among these three people.

What is it then?

RenDong subconsciously walked towards the corpse, wanting to study it more carefully. He just raised his leg but he was caught by someone.

“Don’t step on the blood.” Lian Qiao said.

RenDong took a step back, stood back on the clean carpet and asked in surprise: “What’s wrong with the blood?”

Lian Qiao said: “Blood is nothing, but if you step on the blood, it will destroy the scene. If the police come, it is inevitable that they will interrogate people.”

RenDong was taken aback for a moment and suddenly understood why the person looked around like a thief when he came to inform them just now, and why Auntie Long-Hair let them in only after confirming that there was no one around.

In this instance, the police system was up and running. In the past reincarnation, Lian Qiao was arrested and locked up in the detention center for several days for beating his teacher. When Little Apple died, the police also arrived quickly, not only pulling up the cordon but even notifying all the teachers and students in the school not to spread rumors until the case was clarified. It can be said to be very close to reality.

According to this line of thinking, if the two deceased were made public at this time, the police would definitely question them. Even if they were proven innocent, RenDong’s college time will be wasted when the police station’s procedures are completed.

After thinking about this, RenDong suddenly had a different view of these teammates.

He would not be surprised at all if this point was brought up by Lian Qiao. But this time, everyone had already considered so much before Lian Qiao even arrived.

RenDong subconsciously took a deep breath but was choked by the bloody smell. The room was originally small but at this time there were so many people crowded in it. The carbon dioxide exhaled by the living and the stench from the dead mixed together, making the air extremely turbid.

RenDong coughed twice and Lian Qiao pulled him over and said in a low voice: “You go to class first and leave it to me here.”

RenDong shook his head: “It’s okay, I can ask for leave.” Need to listen.

Lian Qiao smiled: “Are you still worried about me?”

RenDong looked at him strangely: “Of course not, I just want to…”

“No, you don’t want to.” Lian Qiao gently interrupted him, “Your energy alone is limited, and it is impossible to take care of everything. You forgot what you promised me? Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

“…” RenDong was speechless for a while. He knew that Lian Qiao felt sorry for him but he always had an uneasy feeling.

Although Lian Qiao sent him to class, he was worried about him being alone, so he asked the Monk to accompany him.

After Xu RenDong left, Lian Qiao surveyed the scene again. However when RenDong was not around, he became mute and no matter what others told him, he would stare back coldly without saying a word. The hostility was simply palpable.

After the autopsy, he didn’t say what he’d discovered and left the hotel without saying a word. It seemed that he was heading to the back mountain.

Everyone was in a bad mood, so they went to the backyard of the hotel to breathe. This courtyard is extremely secluded and no one came here. Everyone was basking in the sun, their expressions were listless, and no one spoke.

After an unknown amount of time, the long-haired aunt broke the silence.

“I think we have to do it as soon as possible. He doesn’t trust us anymore.”

The “he” in her mouth obviously refers to Lian Qiao.

After hearing this, everyone lowered their heads silently, not knowing what they were thinking. The man with the scar sneered, and said, “If I change my mind now, will my neck be chopped off and thrown on the street tomorrow?”

The long-haired aunt narrowed her eyes: “What do you mean?”

Scarface put out the cigarette butt: “Don’t pretend. Didn’t you kill them? They were just too timid to do anything. You are afraid that they will leak the secret to Lian Qiao, so you acted first to kill them, right?”

Auntie Long-Hair opened her eyes wide: “What nonsense are you talking about? How could I kill someone?”

The man with the scar laughed loudly: “How could it be possible? Do you have the guts to say that? Isn’t what you’re discussing with us now about killing people?”

The long-haired Auntie was at a loss for words. Someone glared at the man with the scar and said, “Why? Now that things have come to a head, are you going to defect and stand by Lian Qiao and the others?”

The man with the scar sneered: “I don’t know which side I’m on, I just can’t understand her behavior!” He pointed at the long-haired aunt’s nose and cursed, “You killed Little Apple too! We were discussing how to trap Lian Qiao at the gym that day. You said you heard voices outside but when you went out to look around, you said there was no one there. Did you plan to kill Little Apple at that time?!”

The long-haired aunt turned pale and sharply retorted: “You’re falsely accusing me! How could I kill Little Apple? Wasn’t I with you when she had an accident? What’s more, why do you think that the person who killed Little Apple must be a person? Who knows if she was unlucky and triggered some death conditions!”

Scarface: “Then tell me, what did she do?”

Long-haired aunt: “How should I know?”

Scarface: “Hehe, you can’t even make it up!”

The Long-Haired Aunt was furious: “You…! “She raised her hand, as if to hit the scarred man. Unexpectedly, the man with the scar would not dodge or dodge but instead greeted her with his head held high.

“Are you so angry that you want to hit me? Are you going to kill me on the spot?” The man with the scar became more and more angry, stepped forward and grabbed her by the neck, “Okay, I want to see, can you kill me first or can I kill you first!”

“Woo…” Auntie Long-hair is a weak woman after all and was strangled by the tall scarred man, like a chicken being pinched in his hand. She looked around for help but found that everyone lowered their heads and avoided her eyes.

The long-haired aunt felt a chill in her heart. She suddenly realized that what she had lost was not only the trust of Lian Qiao—everyone was not on her side anymore!

As soon as she thought about it, she immediately burst into tears.

“How could you do this… woo woo… I don’t want to die, my son is still in junior high school!” With tears in her eyes, she begged the man with the scar, “You let me go, I was wrong! Please let me go! Woooooo…”

Scar’s face was a bit machismo and he was only acting impulsively when he started to attack Auntie Long-hair so, when he heard her pleading for mercy, he let go of his hand with a cold snort.

The long-haired aunt fell to the ground, still crying.

“I really didn’t kill Little Apple. I have such a good relationship with her. How can you say that about me…”

The man with the scar saw her crying heart-piercingly and his face was a little helpless, hesitantly asked: “Really? It’s not you?”

Aunt Long-Hair cried, “It’s not me! How many times do you want me to tell you, it’s really not me! I didn’t kill those two people today! How could I, a woman like me, kill them!”

It seemed to make sense. However, those who can survive to the present are all old players and no one knows what cards the opponent has in their hands. Therefore, everyone just listened to Aunt Long-Hair’s confession casually and didn’t really believe it.

“Okay, stop arguing.” Someone said, “If you quarrel again, people will hear you.”

The man with the scar snorted: “Anyway, if you have any plans in the future, you don’t need to include me. I won’t go either way and I won’t be an informant either. That’s it.” He put his hands in his pockets and left with an annoyed expression on his face.

Everyone in the courtyard looked at each other in blank dismay, with complicated emotions. Only Auntie Long-Hair was left crying in the secluded yard, which was very annoying.

Fortunately, Auntie Long-Hair only cried for a few minutes and stopped crying when she saw that no one was comforting her.

“It’s really not me.” She choked up and made a conclusion.

Suddenly someone in the team said: “Actually, I think everyone was led astray by Lian Qiao. He doesn’t trust us, so he thinks that Little Apple was killed by us. But what if? What if Little Apple was really killed by a ghost?”

These words resonated with two or three people, and soon someone asked: “But what are the conditions for death?”

Everyone fell into silence again.

No one knows what Little Apple did before she died. As for the two who died today, after having dinner with everyone yesterday, they went back to their room and locked the door to rest. What they are doing hiding in the room, I am afraid only the ghosts know.

This instance was different from the past. Although everyone is not a novice, they are still confused.

On the first winter night, there were only a handful of people who could enter the orphanage to escape the severe cold so, until now, no one knows how many initial players there were, and how many people died in obscurity on the first night. The difficulty of the instance is directly related to the number of participants. Of course, it also has a certain relationship with the key players themselves.

Now, everyone already knows that this dungeon is the final dungeon of Xu RenDong and Lian Qiao, so the difficulty must be extremely high. But how hard is it? No one has an idea.

After all, the so-called veteran players had participated in, at the most, three dungeons.

The copy of the elevator world was too difficult for ordinary people, really too difficult. Most people can’t even survive the first instance.

Even if these people are old players, how many of them really passed the level with their own abilities? A lot of people are just lucky enough to be brought along by big bosses, so how many wise decisions can they be expected to make?

In the silence of the crowd, the long-haired aunt who was sitting on the ground twitched the corners of her mouth and smiled mockingly. Soon, the mockery disappeared. When she raised her eyes again, she put on a pitiful expression again.

“I think…if it is really ghosts who kill people, it will be beneficial to us instead.”

Everyone was a little surprised. Aunt Long-Hair slowly said: “Although we don’t know the conditions of death, Lian Qiao and Xu RenDong and the others also don’t know! Then if Lian Qiao dies at this time, he should die in the same way as Little Apple and the others…”

Everyone’s expressions changed. With a bright mind, they blurted out: “In this way Xu RenDong will think that Lian Qiao was also killed by a ghost and won’t suspect us!”

“Yes!”

Auntie Long-hair restrained the urge to raise the corners of her mouth and still said cautiously, “Although this is very sorry for Xu RenDong, there is nothing else we can do. After all, it is not our decision who will be the key player. Xu RenDong is just unlucky… If we want to escape, he must die… “

Auntie Long-Hair knew that she had lost everyone’s trust, so she took every step of the way and was extremely careful in every word. She used “we” instead of “I” as personal pronouns and tried her best to bring everyone back to the same side.

After hearing this, everyone fell into deep thought.

Auntie Long-hair had a point. The instance prompt was too clear, Xu RenDong must die. And Lian Qiao will never let this happen. If you want to sacrifice Xu RenDong, you must kill Lian Qiao first. But once Xu RenDong finds out that Lian Qiao was killed by them, Xu RenDong will inevitably do radical things. At that time, if he committed suicide early, everyone would be capsized into the gutter.

Therefore, it is the best choice to encircle and wipe out Lian Qiao in the name of ghosts.

But…

But what if they really guessed wrong?

There is only one life, and no one can afford it.

Everyone was silent for a long time, each thinking. In the end, half of the remaining eight players agreed with Aunt Long-Hair’s strategy and decided to trick Lian Qiao to the back mountain on the grounds of finding clues, surround and kill him. After that they would cut off his neck, pretending that a ghost had killed him. The other half chose to quit and said that they would remain neutral like the scarred man, neither help nor inform Lian Qiao or RenDong.

……Ah.

The long-haired aunt looked at the backs of the four people who had abstained from voting and left slowly and thought contemptuously:

You say you want to be neutral but what you want is just to sit back and enjoy the benefits.

Humans, who clearly yearn for a way out, still stand on the moral high ground, for fear of getting their hands dirty.

It’s ridiculous.

“But…” The four people left to help were three men and one woman. At this time, the only girl hesitated and said, “Can we really kill Lian Qiao? He is a big boss after all…”

“Don’t worry, I have been preparing for a long time.” The long-haired aunt smiled softly and took out a glass bottle from her pocket, “I stole it when I was exploring the chemical laboratory.”

The bottle contained a transparent greasy liquid, the cap was tightly sealed, and three words were written on the white label:

Concentrated sulfuric acid.